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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579641">It's Christmas Time Again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlaurie/pseuds/kitlaurie'>kitlaurie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Klaus (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, One Year Later</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:54:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,873</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579641</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlaurie/pseuds/kitlaurie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>And as the year passed Jesper found himself anticipating that next Christmas more and more.</p>
<p>What he had not been expecting, however, was just how much the children of Smeerensburg would be anticipating it as well.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Jesper's 2nd Christmas in Smeerensburg comes with it's own unique set of ups and downs, but he wouldn't want it any other way.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jesper Johanssen &amp; Margu, Jesper Johanssen/Klaus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>179</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's Christmas Time Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A little something to celebrate the 1 Year Anniversary of Klaus on Netflix! A look at Jesper and Klaus getting ready for Christmas one year later.</p>
<p>I don't know if I think this is too mushy or not mushy enough. But it's got my two favorite ways to write this pair in it: working together and utterly exhausted. So I hope you enjoy it!</p>
<p>(And for readers of my Orphan AU, I did post something shorter but similar to this idea as an extra/epilogue for that universe. You can find it <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22799332/chapters/64429027">here</a> )</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jesper’s second year in Smeerensburg was nothing like his first.</p>
<p>There was a steady influx of mail, people smiled and waved at him, and if anyone’s house burned down it was generally assumed to be a tragic accident.</p>
<p>Smeerensburg was still an odd place, full of blunt and stubborn people, but it was a pleasantly odd place. A place he was happy to call home.</p>
<p>And as the year passed Jesper found himself anticipating that next Christmas more and more.</p>
<p>What he had not been expecting, however, was just how much the children of Smeerensburg would be anticipating it as well.</p>
<p>All throughout September and October there were a steadily growing number of kids who couldn’t seem to go a single day without asking about Klaus.</p>
<p>“Is Mr. Klaus working on new toys yet?”</p>
<p>“Does Mr. Klaus need to get our letters before he can start making toys?”</p>
<p>“Do I <em>have</em> to write another letter? Can’t I just tell you what I want and you can tell Mr. Klaus?”</p>
<p>And Jesper’s personal favorite,</p>
<p>“Do you have to be good for the <em>whole</em> year, or is it ok to start now? Asking for a friend.”</p>
<p>It was after a few weeks of these increasingly frequent questions that the first letter of the year was actually placed in his hands.</p>
<p>It was from a little girl, who handed it to him proudly over the counter after her mother had taken care of her own outgoing mail.</p>
<p>“And what’s this?” Jesper asked, examining the brightly colored scribbles and drawings on the envelope.</p>
<p>“It’s my letter! For Mr. Klaus!” The little girl said excitedly.</p>
<p>Jesper stared at her blankly for a moment.</p>
<p>“It’s November.”</p>
<p>“I know.” She chirped back. And that was all he got from her before she took her mother’s hand and left.</p>
<p>He set that first letter to the side, scared it would get lost before Christmas if he took it up to Klaus all on it’s own.</p>
<p>But it didn’t sit by itself for long. More and more kids came in over the next few days, all proudly holding their letters up for him to take.</p>
<p>Within the week he had enough of them to fill his mailbag and decided there was no point in not delivering them now. So he brought them home with him.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Jesper found Klaus exactly where he always seemed to find him these days. In the workshop, head bent over some project or another. Some new toy to wow the children with next Christmas. He was so focused on the half formed shape of wood and gears in front of him that he didn’t even notice Jesper come in.</p>
<p>Jesper took a moment to just watch Klaus work. Watch him focused so intently on the notes and sketches and raw materials in front of him, peering through the glasses he only ever admitted to needing when he was working with the most delicate gears and finest little details.</p>
<p>He managed to get right up behind him, still unnoticed, and looked over his shoulder. Though that didn’t exactly help clear up what Klaus was working on.</p>
<p>Jesper leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek, finally catching his attention.</p>
<p>“Well, hello there.” Klaus smiled, pulling his glasses down as he looked up from what he was working on.</p>
<p>“Hello.” Jesper said before leaning in for a proper kiss. “Hey, I’ve got something to show you.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?” Klaus asked.</p>
<p>“Looks like I’m bringing work home with me again.” Jesper said, swinging the mailbag up onto the table.</p>
<p>“Oh.” Klaus looked at the bag, recognition dawning on his face. “Already? I was worried they wouldn’t even remember after a whole year.”</p>
<p>“Are you serious?” Jesper asked, finding a spot for himself on Klaus’ lap in lieu of pulling up his own chair. “That’s a hell of a thing to forget. Toys appearing overnight, whole town coming together. Trust me, theses kids would forget their own names before they forgot about you.”</p>
<p>Klaus blushed, something Jesper always took a great deal of personal satisfaction in causing.</p>
<p>“And apparently they’re very excited to see it happen again.” He continued, opening the bag of letters and pulling out a handful. “There’s at least thirty of these in here and I really doubt things will be slowing down any time soon.”</p>
<p>Klaus took the letters from his hand like they were something precious.</p>
<p>They spent the rest of the afternoon reading through them together. In some ways these letters were no different from last years, kids asked for a toy and talked about how good they’d been, but some of them were almost more thank you letter than anything else. Excitedly telling Klaus everything last years toys had been through. Names they’d given to them, games they’d played with them, stories of sharing with their friends or finding comfort in them when they were sick or hurt or had a nightmare.</p>
<p>“They really are excited about these toys, aren’t they?” Klaus said wonderingly, a soft smile on his face as he read.</p>
<p>“And they have <em>very</em> clear ideas of what they want already.” Jesper added, reading over one especially detailed and particular letter again. One that not only spelled out what the writer wanted down to what were and weren’t acceptable colors to use, but also asking for baby toys for his new sibling who wasn’t even expected to arrive until early spring.</p>
<p>“Well,” Klaus said with a chuckle. “At least I’ve still got plenty of time left to work out the more specific requests.”</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>By the last week of November something else unexpected had happened.</p>
<p>There’d been a small but growing influx of mail from off the island throughout the year, people getting in touch with distant relatives, small mail order items, that sort of thing. Mogens brought in a small bag of incoming mail about once every other week now.</p>
<p>One day, as he sorted through the small parcels and personal letters Jesper found something out of the ordinary. A letter addressed to Klaus, with all the usual hallmarks such a letter came with. A child’s scribbley handwriting, colorful doodles, and that little leap of excitement in his chest that they all seemed to give him.</p>
<p>All very familiar, but it wasn’t from Smeerensburg.</p>
<p>Jesper stared at it for a while until he realized there was nothing else to do but take it home to Klaus and find out what it said.</p>
<p>And what it said wasn’t really much of a surprise. Another kid asking for a toy. A kid in Batsfjord though, not Smeerensburg.</p>
<p>Apparently one of the Krum children had obtained a little pen-pal, the daughter of a lacemaker their mother had ordered the finishing touches for a wedding veil from. The two girls had talked about a lot of things, including the wonderful toymaker who always brought toys to children who wrote him a letter.</p>
<p>The letter was full of excitement, telling them all about what her friend in Smeerensburg had told her about the “most amazing toys in the world” and asking for one of her own. Nothing specific just “something pretty”, she said she was sure whatever it was would be her new favorite toy. It had to be.</p>
<p>“That’s a little out of the way.” Klaus said as he read over the letter again.</p>
<p>“A little?” Jesper asked incredulously. “It’s a lot for just one toy.”</p>
<p>But it soon became clear that if they did deliver to Batsfjord it wouldn’t just be <em>one</em> toy. The little lacemaker’s daughter had cousins and neighbors and classmates, all of whom she’d been happy to tell about Smeerensburg’s mysterious toymaker.</p>
<p>Before long there were a few dozen letters from children in Batsfjord, all addressed to Klaus.</p>
<p>“Ok,” Jesper said, leaning back in his chair one night as they looked over them together. “Looks like we’re going to Batsfjord.”</p>
<p>“Looks like it.” Klaus said, looking over the table full of opened letters with a smile.</p>
<p>And that smile was enough to wash away all Jesper’s growing worry over the extra work they’d have to do and the rush they’d be in to get there and back again all in one night. Anything that made Klaus smile like that was worth it. And usually, it was something guaranteed to make other people smile too.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>The first week of December brought a fresh wave of excitement. It was time to get serious about making all those new toys. All the planning and designing Klaus had done throughout the year was about to pay off and their Saami friends were returning to the workshop.</p>
<p>In fact, Jesper wasn’t even home to greet them the first day. Still busy with Smeerensburg’s regular mail deliveries when they arrived early one morning. He returned home to a workshop that was already alive and busy, although more with food and conversation than with work.</p>
<p>He was barely through the door when Margu pushed her way out of the crowd and ran up to him, calling his name with her arms raised in the universal signal that a child wanted to be held.</p>
<p>Jesper used what little Saami he’d picked up to tell her she was too big for him to hold now as he made an exaggerated effort to pick her up, pretending he couldn’t even get her feet off the ground.</p>
<p>Margu laughed and protested loudly that she was still little. Very little! And that he had to try harder. Eventually he gave in and hoisted her into his arms with a great show of effort, insisting that soon she’d have to be the one carrying him around. Margu giggled at this and told him maybe next year she would. Said that next year she’d be very strong, and she flexed her arms to show him how big her muscles were getting.</p>
<p>It was good to have the hustle and bustle of the workshop back. The long nights barely even felt like work with everyone laughing and joking, kids running underfoot and friends pestering him to put the lists down and eat something.</p>
<p>At some point one night he found himself with Margu again, the two of them sitting by the fire sharing a choppy conversation and watching the workshop buzz along until she fell asleep sitting in his lap with her head on his shoulder, one arm wrapped around her so she didn’t fall.</p>
<p>Jesper stayed like that for the rest of the night, afraid to wake her, until things began to wind down and people slowly began saying their goodbyes and heading out for the night.</p>
<p><em>“She missed you.”</em> Her mother said as she came to retrieve her sleepy child.</p>
<p><em>“I missed her too.”</em> Jesper told her in his best Saami, carefully helping transfer the girl from his arms to her mother’s. <em>“Just a little.”</em></p>
<p>Margu’s mother laughed at the obvious understatement and wished him a goodnight as the girl shifted in her sleep, getting comfortable again with her head on her mother’s shoulder.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>When Christmas Eve arrived Jesper still wasn’t sure how they’d manage two towns worth of deliveries in one night.</p>
<p>Trying to work out the timing of it all had interrupted the few hours he’d had for rest in the last few weeks. Klaus would look at him, even in the darkened bedroom, and tell him to stop worrying and get some sleep. Kiss him on the forehead and tell him he could feel his brain running too hot in there.</p>
<p>But the night itself was off to a great start. It’s amazing how much easier delivering presents can be when people are actually expecting you, even if they do still expect all deliveries to be done via fireplace.</p>
<p>The children of Smeerensburg had all their presents sitting by the mantle waiting for them in record time, something which Jesper would’ve been a lot more eager to celebrate if they didn’t have a trip across the ocean still ahead of them.</p>
<p>“You’re sure we can’t just mail these kids their toys the old fashioned way?” He asked Klaus as the sleigh was loaded onto the ferry. “Sure, they might be a little late at this point. But is anyone really gonna complain? Still getting a free toy.”</p>
<p>Klaus sighed. “Jesper, we’ve been over this. It just isn’t the same, and it’s not what they’re expecting.”</p>
<p>They had been over this. Several times. And the decision they always landed on was that it was at least worth a shot. And Jesper was mostly joking about giving up at this point. Mostly. But Klaus seemed to be too tired to appreciate any humor in it just then.</p>
<p>“Trouble in paradise?” Mogens asked wryly as he coiled up the last of the dock lines.</p>
<p>And that was the end of that little spat. Nothing got Jesper to shut up faster these days than trying not to give Mogens any more ammo. Especially when it came to him and Klaus. And <em>especially</em> when they’d be stuck with him for a good chunk of the night.</p>
<p>But sitting side by side together on the back of the ferry actually ended up being a nice lull in the evening. The short break taking some of the edge off of both Klaus and Jesper’s frayed nerves.</p>
<p>Jesper found himself listening to Klaus talk about the colors of the northern lights in the sky with his head on his shoulder, the excitement with which Klaus talked being the only thing keeping him awake after a long night in Smeerensburg and the waves gently rocking them on their way to the long night still ahead of them in Batsfjord.</p>
<p>And once again, things went more smoothly than either of them could’ve expected. Just like in Smeerensburg, it helped to be expected. Despite a few close calls and tight spots, Jesper was surprised at how nice it was to just be out seeing someplace new together. Even if it was just a little fishing town in the dead of night. He made a mental note to try and plan more trips together. In that moment, something about seeing the world with Klaus just felt <em>right.</em></p>
<p>By the time they’d made it back to Smeerensburg the sun was already rising and Jesper wanted nothing more than to lay in his own bed, wrapped tight in Klaus’ arms and layers and layers of warm blankets, sleeping the rest of Christmas morning away.</p>
<p>But the town seemed to have other plans.</p>
<p>The moment the ferry docked they were swarmed by people, the most excited children and the earliest risers, wishing them a Merry Christmas and pushing cakes and pies and cookies into their arms.</p>
<p>They loaded their treasure trove of baked goods into the sleigh, but never made it in themselves. Alva, the chronic early riser that she’d become, grabbed them both by the arm, cheerfully pulling them back into the fray of the growing holiday festivities with no sign of remorse.</p>
<p>“You two weren’t really planning on spending Christmas alone, were you?” She asked as she pulled them along.</p>
<p>“Not alone.” Jesper protested. “Together. Asleep in our bed.”</p>
<p>“Sounds like a boring Christmas to me.” She snorted.</p>
<p>“Well it sounds like the perfect Christmas to me.” He told her. “Right, Klaus?”</p>
<p>But Klaus just smiled, going along with Alva easily while she had to practically drag Jesper into the crowd.</p>
<p>“What could it hurt?” Klaus asked cheerfully.</p>
<p>“Is <em>anyone</em> on my side?” Jesper asked with clearly exaggerated hurt in his voice.</p>
<p>He’d be lying if he’d said it wasn’t nice though, enjoying the holiday with the rest of the town. Appreciating all the work other people had put into making the day special. The food and decorations and music. It was truly the perfect opportunity to appreciate just how much Smeerensburg had really come together as a community.</p>
<p>And seeing kids run up to Klaus with their new toys in hand, eager to tell him how much they loved them, more than made up for having to put off sleep for a few more hours.</p>
<p>Jesper drifted in and out of lots of conversations, but his attention always came back to Klaus. Klaus surrounded by children. Maybe the exhaustion was just making him emotional, but the way Klaus smiled as he showed the kids every clever little thing their new toys could do had Jesper falling in love with him all over again.</p>
<p>By the time they finally made it back home the sun had set again, leaving a sense of quiet and calm over everything. They enjoyed a lazy dinner of coffee and about three different kinds of cake, quietly chatting and laughing about everything that had happened that day as they sat by the fire.</p>
<p> They ran a bath, taking turns washing each other’s hair and trying keep each other awake just a little while longer before finally calling it a night.</p>
<p>They were exhausted, they’d been up for days but it felt more like weeks.</p>
<p>They lay in bed smiling at each other. Jesper absently running his fingers through Klaus’ hair while Klaus held him close. It wouldn’t be long before they drifted off to sleep, exhausted but content, hoping for many more Christmases like this one in their future.</p>
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